Saturday, March 18, 2017

Taking it easy(!)

My hamstring recovery is going steadily. I’m able to manage at least 95% effort, though I haven’t given full acceleration a test yet.

For the track, I had a choice of 100m, 1500m and 400m, as the events I’d attempt. After a brief discussion with my coach, who confirmed my own thoughts, I opted for the 400m only. With the state relay championships only a week away, I didn’t want to risk a re-injury in the 100m. I figured I could take a slower start in the 400 and focus on technique and fitness to run the race.

For the field, I had entered in shot put, long jump and javelin. First up was the shot put. Already, it was obvious that I was going to have some serious scheduling issues. Without the benefit of a full warmup and 100m sprint before the shot, I decided to drop the long jump to allow for some time to warm up. Anyway, shot put was a bit ordinary, with a best throw around 5.45m.

Even without the long jump, events conspired to severely limit my warmup for the 400m. As a result, I knew I would have to take the race carefully. However, weather conditions were perfect, with the temperature around 28C and almost no wind. I took the start a bit easier than normal (though apparently at least one spectator didn’t notice! :) ), and maintained pace in the back straight. From there the idea was to hold on as best I could. Unfortunately, in the middle of the bend, my injured hamstring tightened up and I slowed down slightly to play it safe. Luckily, the tightness only lasted a few seconds and I was able to push on towards the finish. Finished the race in a PB time of 1:02.51.

Final event was the javelin. Here, I wasn’t expecting any miracles. I’m still in the early days of getting my technique sorted, and the usual advice of “It’s like throwing a tennis ball” isn’t the most helpful, because I’ve never had a good throwing action. Here, I’m in unexplored territory (which is one reason why I’m interested in working on the javelin more). Anyway, I got two good throws in, including a PB around 13.5m. :)

Next week is the Victorian Relay Championships. I’m looking forward to running a few relays, teaming up with other locals.